Juicy Roast Turkey Recipe perfect for Christmas

This is a recipe that will give you a perfectly juicy roast turkey every time.

I am the first to admit I don’t like turkey. My family doesn’t like turkey. We never have turkey unless we absolutely have to because it is so dry. I know what you’re thinking. “I’ve just googled this recipe, clicked on yours, and now you’re telling me you don’t like turkey?”. I am telling a small white lie here. I *didn’t* like turkey, but I do now. Thanks to this juicy roast turkey recipe.

We have tried everything in our house to get a perfectly juicy roast turkey. We have tried butter under the skin, covering it with bacon, cooking it in a bag, and sticking it in the slow cooker all night and day. But we have never tried brining. Remarkable, I know! It seems very popular in the States but apparently hasn’t gained lift-off here in the UK.

You can brine any meat really. Brining is when you marinate a piece of meat or fish in a salty solution for several days to make it juicier and tender. A biological process called “osmosis” (if I remember my A-level Biology coursework correctly) fills the cells up with water. This breaks down the cell walls and increasing the meat’s ability to hold on to more of its juices. This is ideal if you’re after a perfectly juicy roast turkey!

Here’s what you’ll need to serve 7-10 people:

Juicy Roast Turkey Recipe

Ingredients

1medium turkeyyou can use this recipe for a smaller turkey and a larger one, just keep the brine mixture the same and add more water if you need

4strips of streaky bacon

2large carrots

2large onions

For the brine:

5Cinnamon sticks

2Star Anise

2tbspMustard seeds

1/2Grated nutmeg

2large onions

2large oranges

6bay leaves

Any herbs you have on hand - rosemary and thyme work well

1bulb of garlic cut in half

10whole cloves

2thumb-sized pieces of gingersliced into rounds

125gsalt

125gsugar

7-8litersof water

For the turkey glaze:

4tbspof duck fat or butter

4tbspof maple syrup

Instructions

Put all of your brining ingredients in a big bucket (big enough to fit a whole turkey). Place all of your spices, onions, oranges, herbs, sugar, salt, water, into the bucket and mix thoroughly with your hand/arm until it's all combined. Remove the neck from the cavity and drop it into the water, and take out the bag of the innards for the gravy later.

Leave the bucket in a cold place (Nigella famously leaves hers outside) with a firm lid for at least 12 hours.

Take the turkey out 2 hours before you need it and dry it off completely.

Place thickly-sliced onions, carrots and bay leaves into a roasting tray. Put the turkey on top and stuff the front-end of the turkey with your stuffing then tuck the excess skin underneath.

Warm up the glaze mixture in a pan on low heat until liquid and brush onto the turkey, then cover with the bacon. More bacon the merrier, as I always say.

Roast at 200 degrees Celsius (360 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 150 degrees and cook it slowly for a further hour and a half.

When the turkey is done (no blood secretion and your meat thermometer says it's at least 72 degrees Celsius), rest for 2 hours. This is a mandatory step!